Many orthoses comprise several components that are arranged at different places on the body of the person wearing the orthosis. Thus, for example, a knee orthosis is arranged on the thigh and on the lower leg of the wearer. These individual different components are connected to each other by a rail system of the type in question here, wherein this rail system can, for example, comprise freely pivotable or lockable joints, which are connected to corresponding rails, but can also comprise stiff connections between two rails. In order to obtain an individual adaptation of the orthosis to the physique of the wearer, the individual rails that interconnect the various components of the rail system and of the orthosis have to be individually prepared for the wearer or cut into lengths. Two components of a rail system are conventionally connected by connecting the connection end of one component, for example of a rail, to a receiving element of another component which, for example, can likewise be a rail or one of the aforementioned joints.
The receiving element has two parallel lateral walls which lie opposite each other and between which the connection end of the respective other component is positioned. To obtain a connection that is as firm and secure as possible and to achieve a comfortable and secure feel for the person wearing the orthosis, it is necessary for the individual components to be connected to each other in a manner free of play. This is important not only in the final orthosis but of course also during the work carried out in testing a new orthosis. For example, the lateral walls and the underside of the connection end of the second component are usually laboriously reworked, for example by secondary filing or secondary grinding, in order to achieve the best possible match of the connection end to the receiving element. In addition, the two components are screwed together via at least two screws, these being intended to achieve a particularly secure connection, since the screws take up at least some of the acting forces. A disadvantage is that the production of such matching components is complex, time-consuming and therefore expensive, and moreover, when the orthosis is being tested out, the corresponding connection ends have to be reworked again each time the dimensions of individual components are changed. Testing out the orthosis is in this case likewise lengthy and uncomfortable for the wearer unless a connection that is free of play is provided during the testing.
Alternatively or in addition to this, it is known to provide compensating plates or intermediate components that are placed or fitted between the two components that are to be connected, for example in the receiving element of the first component, in order to compensate for manufacturing tolerances and to ensure that the two components are connected in a manner free of play. This has the disadvantage that a large number of different compensating plates have to be kept in stock in order to be able to compensate for different manufacturing tolerances. These components can get mislaid, such that it is not possible to ensure a permanent connection free of play, particularly after the individual components have optionally frequently been released from each other.
For the final orthosis, it is known, in addition to or as an alternative to a special reworking of the connection end of the various components, to additionally adhesively bond the components that are adapted to one another and optionally screwed onto one another. For this purpose, a special glue is often used which, in a further protracted and therefore time-consuming and costly method step, has to be allowed to set. A disadvantage of this is that the connection cannot be undone again without being destroyed, such that the orthosis, once joined together, can only be modified with great difficulty and adapted to possibly altered conditions of the patient.
To ensure that the two components can be easily released from each other, it is known from the prior art for example, to design a rail with an insert element, which is introduced into a recess provided for this purpose. A locking element is in this case pressed out from its rest position counter to a spring force of a spring element, and it snaps back into its rest position as soon as the insert element has reached its final position. The connection is locked by the spring element that has snapped back. However, it is also a disadvantage here that a very exact match of the individual components to one another has to be ensured if the connection locked by the snapped-back spring element is to be free of play. Therefore, the problem addressed by the invention is that of further developing a rail system as per the preamble of claim 1 in such a way that a connection that is free of play can be achieved easily and quickly, while easy releasability of the connection is nevertheless also ensured.